2009

7. Club reports and website updates

Please send to: adgould at comcast.net

8. Announcements

This from Donna Smith in Burbank on John Dobson:

Many of you may have heard rumors that John has been ill recently and was unable to attend his yearly event in Death Valley. While it's true that he didn't go, he isn't seriously ill but wasn't feeling great and Furnace Creek is pretty far from any medical facilities. Unfortunately, we aren't scheduling John for any upcoming events and he is still in Hollywood and will be there for the next several weeks. John, his doctors, and those close to him feel this is best. We will keep you updated. Should you like to write John, please do so c/o The Vedanta Society, 1946 Vedanta Place, Los Angeles, CA 90068 or send an email message to him:

sidewalkastronomers at earthlink.net

From David Baumgartner re Pinnacles National Monument Star party. See item "F" below.

Ken moved we have next AANC meeting on Apr 19, rather than Apr 5. Mike seconded. Motion passed.

9. Adjourn 12:05 am (Mike moved, Ray seconded)

Next meeting date: April 19, at Chabot, unless otherwise amended.

http://lhs.berkeley.edu/planetarium - Planetarium shows every Saturday and Sunday, plus holidays $3.00 — Adults, $2.50 — Ages 18 and under. Most programs are recommended for ages 8 and up. Children under 6 will not be admitted except for Flying High and Journey to the Moon (for ages 4-7).

December 20, 2008-March 15, 2009

Saturday and Sunday, plus Holidays.*

1:00 p.m. - Flying High (designed for ages 4-7)

2:15 p.m. - Northern Lights (for ages 8 yrs and up)

3:30 p.m. - Constellations Tonight (for ages 8 yrs and up)

* Holidays include Jan. 19 & Feb. 16.

March 21-June 14, 2009

Saturday and Sunday, plus Holidays.

Daily shows: 4/06-4/17/09**

1:00 p.m. - Journey to the Moon (designed for ages 4-7)

2:15 p.m. - Moons of the Solar System (for ages 8 yrs and up)

3:30 p.m. - Constellations Tonight (for ages 8 yrs and up)

** Special schedule M-F: 1:45pm "Journey to the Moon" & 3:00pm "Constellations Tonight" only

June 15-September 13, 2009

Saturday and Sunday, plus Holidays.

Daily shows: 6/15-8/21/2009

1:00 p.m. - Flying High (designed for ages 4-7)

2:15 p.m. - Strange Planets (for ages 8 yrs and up)

3:30 p.m. - Constellations Tonight (for ages 8 yrs and up)

Saturday Night Stargazing every 1st & 3rd Saturday of the month, year-round, weather permitting.

Grant Proposal for Astronomy Club at Hirsch Elementary School

I. Title: Telescope for Hirsch Elementary School Astronomy Club

II. Name of requesting organization: Hirsch Elementary School

III. Name and contact info of person preparing the proposal:

Avani Bedagkar

4627 Norwood terrace Fremont, Ca 94538

510-659-0121

IV. Date of proposal : February 2, 2009

V. Brief description of how the grant funds would be used: We are requesting $200 to purchase telescopes kits for the 5th graders in the club to build. We will purchase easy to build telescopes, small refractor kits, that will allow students to experience the heavens the Galileo did 400 years ago. This will be part of our contribution to the International Year of Astronomy. Our program focuses on objects and subjects that Galileo would have seen.

The fifth graders will get a hands-on experience of what it is like to build a telescope. They will also learn about lenses, because they will be handling and placing the lens in the telescope. The students will learn about why images appear upside down when looking through a telescope. Ultimately, the telescope will give the kids an opportunity to see beyond the limitations of the human eye. The kids will be able to view moon craters and star clusters, perhaps even some planets. Many different concepts are learned by the making and usage of a telescope, for example Physics, optics, and Astronomy are some of the science that can be understood and studied.

VI. Explanation of how the grant benefits amateur astronomy: The strength of any hobby is its ability to recruit new members and pass on that passion to the next generation. We feel that funding an activity such as this will spark a lifelong interest in some of the elementary students. Already, this project has lead me, Avani, to become a member of the Peninsula Astronomical Society. I am now checked out on the Foothill College observatory’s 16 inch Meade telescope and have participated in public outreach programs.

VII. Designation of a person who will report to the AANC Board on Grant spending and Grant Activities: Avani Bedagkar will report how the grant is spent, the educational benefits derived, and any obstacles overcome or lessons learned.

VIII. Date by which the recipient organization expects to report to the AANC Board on Grant spending and Grant activities: May 2009.

Hi AANC Board,

I was just looking and playing with the map creation feature in Google. Here is one that shows exact placement of 'most' of the "public program" observing areas in the 'greater' Bay Area. Most of these are affiliated with AANC or AANC connected. (not the school or research observatories)

If there is one or two people who would like to be 'collaborators' ? I have done the preliminary work for the high density area around the Bay and from Monterrey up past Santa Rosa. Most of these facility positions have been nailed to the center of the dome or roll-off. The majority of these places I have visited myself - and the public observing aspect is confirmed by the latest information on affiliated web sites.

If the Board feels this would be useful for the public- I'll contact Uncle Al about getting it connected to the AANC website.

A companion (now vaporware) map of the rest of the AANC areas and public program sites would probably be a follow on. [Observatories, California north]

I just made the Observatories, California Bay Area map search able, You should be able to find it through a regular Google map search in the user-created region.

Steven Nelson (ex-Board)

PS

Rather than bother doing a lot of exact page linkage - which would be maintenance heavy - I just gave a organization reference and assume all know how 'to Google'. I was surprised at how many places do multiple programs per month! This took about 4-5 hours starting with no experience (and never visiting Robert Fergison, San Francisco State or several other observatories!)

The overarching concept for FETTU is presenting astronomical images across the world in 2009 in the broad context of science, art, and culture. These exhibitions of astronomical images will serve as a powerful way to engage potentially millions of people in the wonders of astronomy. By using beautiful imagery, FETTU aims to expose new audiences to the wonders of the cosmos:

http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/72/

This Bay Area FETTU project would be the recruitment of volunteer astronomers (Project ASTRO, local NSN and or other AANC amateur astronomy clubs) to help staff the display at some of the venues.

The venues include several weekend community fairs and/or art-wine festivals, and then other venues like a week at a local community college student union. At the weekend events, the booth needs to be staffed all day, while at the other events it may be that the display only needs to be staffed during high traffic times like during lunch. None of this is set in stone of course; experience at the first few events will tell us what really works.

A likely scenario (but I can't promise) is that 2 people end up staffing the booth for one or both days on a weekend at one of these fairs. That means they both can take time off away from the booth to eat, wander around the fair, etc. And when they are staffing the booth they get to talk to lots of people, answer questions, maybe even quietly recruit for their local club. 2 or 3 days of this spread out over the year doesn't sound too bad....I hope.

Much of the staffing will probably be done by EPO staff members from the various participating missions, but having some volunteer amateur astronomers or teachers would help to spread the load. And maybe Doris could be encouraged to provide some incentives for the volunteers--maybe small NASA gifts or certificates of appreciation

or whatever. But of course I cannot make promises on her behalf.

PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT STAR PARTY

Saturday, February 21st, the Pinnacles National Monument and Pinnacles Partnership are hosting a Star Party, this event will be held at the west entrance of the park. (See directions below).

For those that are interested, we will start off with a Park Ranger guided nature walk into the park starting at 4:30pm and lasting for about an hour or so.

You will be allowed to setup your scopes after the tour is finished, around 6pm. You can stay as long as you like to enjoy the beautiful skies. The entrance gate will close at 8pm, allowing no one to enter after that time, so please donÕt be late. The gate will automatically open on your way out, when you decide to leave. If you would like to stay the night, that is fine, but you will need to vacate the parking area no later than 7:30am Sunday morning, February 22nd. No tents, please. There will be no entrance fee to anyone volunteering to set up their scope and allowing the public to view.

The public will be charged a $5.00 entrance fee per auto.

Bathrooms and water are available, no electricity.

The setup area is a 50 car parking lot; space is limited to 20 setups. So first call, first serve.

To reserve your spot; call the Park at 831-389-4486 X 265. You won't be sorry you did.

Although I have never viewed from the west side, and if the skies are anything like the East side,

where I have viewed, you wonÕt be disappointed.

Directions: From San Francisco Bay Area to the West Entrance:

Take Hwy 101 south to the town of Soledad, just south of Salinas, and then take Hwy 146 east.

Please be careful while driving through town; the highway takes a few turns.

Follow Hwy 146 for 14 miles into Pinnacles National Monument.

http://www.nps.gov/pinn/planyourvisit/directions.htm

And two maps:

http://www.planitarium.net/aanc/events/bayarea-map.pdf

http://www.planitarium.net/aanc/events/west-entrance-map.pdf

David and a Ranger will meet you and show you where to set up.

Please pass on to your fellow amateur astronomers.

Hope you can come and join us; I will look forward to seeing you all there,

David Baumgartner

831-637-1148 (if you have any questions)

cygnett at hollinet.com

Full Moons 2009

January 11, 03:27 SAT

February 9, 14:49 MON

March 11, 02:38

April 9, 14:56

May 9, 04:01

June 7, 18:12

July 7, 09:21

August 6, 00:55

September 4, 16:03

October 4, 06:10

November 2, 19:14

December 2, 07:30

December 31, 19:13 (blue moon)